Annette Sanford: Eleanor and Abel: a Love StoryThis is delightful. Reading about a couple of 70-somethings falling in love is totally charming. It's possible that you have to be a 50-something or more to fully appreciate it, but I hope not.

Chris Bohjalian: Before You Know KindnessThis has been a favorite author for awhile now, and his newest does not disappoint. I've been dragging this everywhere with me, and reading more than knitting in order to finish. Bohjalian has a deft hand with family dynamics. He clearly shows both sides of any argument. He creates characters who a reader can get fully involved with. Read this, read any of his books. Purely satisfying.

Kent Haruf: EventideIf you liked Plainsong, this will be equally satisfying. Haruf is good at exploring both the warmth and chill of human relationships. I like his characters, and he leaves the door open for a continuing saga about how these lives keep intersecting each other.

Lawrence Block: Tanner's Twelve SwingersMy first ever audio book. I'm a Block fan from his books Hit Man and Hit List. This wasn't as good, but it was entertaining enough to finish...and I got a lot of knitting done as well.

Pearl Buck: The Good EarthThis is considered a classic for a good reason. I first read it forty-plus years ago. Loved it then; loved it now. THe family life cycle in pre-Revolutionary China, and the family life cycle in 21st century America....not much difference in dynamics.

Terry Kay: The Kidnapping of Aaron GreeneA bit slow to get into, and repetitious in parts, but eventually I got caught up in the plot and decided to finish it. Ending falls flat...the whole book was a bit flat. Kay is a good writer, but he needs a better story to tell. His previous book, To Dance With the White Dog," was far superior. Read that one instead.

Vivian Schilling: QuietusThis is a can't-put-down book. I was willingly persuaded to suspend belief and go along with the overtones of the supernatural. Through the plot line of survivors of a plane crash being picked off one by one by spectres of Death, the book explores issues of mortality. Not exactly a cheery topic, but like a sore tooth, I am often drawn to probe around it anyway.

Beth Gutcheon has long been a favorite author. Her newest book, Leeway Cottage, contains two stories in one. Outwardly, it is a story of a marriage, of family, of the many ways people hurt the ones they love, and love each other anyway. It's an intriguing and engaging story, but by itself it would be somewhat pointless. It's the story buried inside it that has me stirred beyond what mere words can convey.

The story of how Denmark banded together to save most of it's Jewish population from extermination is a shining light in the darkness of most Holocaust fiction. Gutcheon retells this history, giving it faces and hearts, and she makes me want to meet her characters in person so I could hug them, thank them, feed them, somehow make them know how special they were. Gutcheon's description of life at Ravensbruck is one of the most chilling concentration camp horror stories ever put into words.

I realize this does not sound like entertaining bookfare. I realize that reading about the Holocaust involves steeling yourself from emotion. It seems like it's not a book for a sunny day. But that's the beauty of Beth Gutcheon as a writer. You are fully engaged in her characters before you ever realize that she is telling a different story entirely, and by then it is too late to turn back, or wait for a day of storms. What am I telling readers? I am telling you, read this book.

COMFORT FOODIn contrast, Maeve Binchey writes stories that are like oatmeal cookies fresh from the over. Warm, comforting, sugary sweet. Scarlett Feather is classic Binchey. You know it will have angst and soap opera drama all through it. You know the villains will get what they deserve, and the deserving will get their happy endings. When you need a book for comfort food, this is a good choice. One thing I did particularly enjoy about this one is the inside look at the life of a caterer. It was fascinating to read about all the detail work that goes into developing a catering business.

I'm racing through my books at record speed. I have only one more that has to last until I get home on Sunday, unless I can get to a bookstore today. Can I help it if I brought great choices with me?

I finished another Sarah Dunant novel. Actually, while her writing is just as competent and riveting as ever in Transgressions, the plot is so unpleasant that I'm not terribly fond of this one. Woman splits up with long-time boyfriend, strange harrassments begin. Is the woman crazy or is she being made crazy? Dunant handles plot twists effectively, leaving the reader wondering from one page to the next. In Mapping the Edge, it was like looking at one of those optical illusion pictures...sometimes you see the woman's face and sometimes you see the vase. But in Transgressions, it's more a question of what does the woman's face really look like. And in the end, do you care? So read Dunant....but maybe skip this one.

In the wee hours of the night, I reluctantly finished The Jane Austen Book Club, by Karen Ann Fowler. Reading this book was like savoring a bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Lots of flavor. Some chocolate, some vanilla. Satisfying crunch. Perfect blend of characters. Absolute truths.

It is not necessary to have read Jane Austen to love this book. It's not even necessary to like Jane Austen to love this book. I want more ice cream.

One of the many pleasures of a road trip, is long stretches of uninterrupted time in which to read. I had started The Mystery of Breathing, by Perri Klass, before I left on this trip, but the plot began to get really intense as we travelled, and by Saturday, I simply couldn't stop reading. I knew I would have to finish it before I ever turned out the light.

Klass's book is a marvel of building up both the inner and the outer suspense. Maggie Clayborn is a gifted clinical neonatologist, who is being systematically destroyed by an anonymous smear campaign. At first, I didn't like the author's style of so much of Maggie's inner dialogue, and so much wordy detail about her life. However, as the story progressed, the detail became part of the suspenseful build-up. It was amazing to watch how much of Maggie's turmoil aided the work of her accuser. As the letters and posters appear in public, Maggie's responses lead her to a paranoia that is completely understandable, and completely self-destructive.

As the book neared it's conclusion, I worried. What kind of ending could I live with? I couldn't bear to see Maggie's accuser succeed. I wanted the accuser brought to justice, but that seemed like it would be a too-neat ending...too simplistic. In the end, the ending was just right. And that's all I'll tell you about that.

I needed a day to recover from reading this book. It was so powerful, that I couldn't simply pick up another book and start right in. I've been reading magazines all day for a buffer, but I'll get into a new book tonight.